“It won’t be any trouble,” Grandpa Brown said.  Then he went out of the kitchen with Mother Brown, Bunny and Sue, leaving Grandma Brown to wait on the strange boy.  Splash stayed in the kitchen too.  Perhaps the big dog was hungry himself.

“That boy isn’t a regular tramp,” said Grandpa Brown.  “But there is something queer about him.  He seems afraid.  I must have a talk with him after he eats.”

“He seems nice and neat,” said Mother Brown.

“Yes, he’s clean.  I like him for that.  Well, we’ll soon find out what he has to tell me.”

But the boy did not seem to want to talk much about himself, when Grandpa Brown began asking questions, after the meal.

“You have run away; haven’t you?” Grandpa Brown asked.

“Yes—­yes, sir, I did run away.”

“From home?”

“No, I haven’t had any home, that I can remember.  I didn’t run away from home.  I was working.”

“On a farm?”

“No, sir.  I didn’t work on a farm.”

“Where was it then?”

“I—­I’d rather not tell,” the boy said, looking around him as though he thought some one might be after him.

“Look here!” said Grandpa Brown.  “You haven’t been a bad boy; have you?”

“No—­no, sir.  I’ve tried to be good.  But the—­the people I worked for made it hard for me.  They wanted me to do things I couldn’t, and they beat me and didn’t give me enough to eat.  So I just ran away.  They may come after me—­that’s why I don’t want to tell you.  If you don’t know where I ran from, you won’t know what to tell them if they come after me.  But I’ll go now.”

The boy got up from the table, as though to go out into the night.  It was raining now.

“No, I won’t let you go,” said Grandpa Brown.  “And I won’t give you up to the people who beat you.  I’ll look into this.  You can stay here to-night.  You can sleep in the room with Bunker Blue.  He’ll look after you.  Now I hope you have been telling me the truth!”

“Oh, yes, sir.  It’s all true.  I did work for—­for some people, and they half starved me and made me work very hard.  I just had to run away, and I hope they don’t catch me and take me back.”

“Well, I hope so, too,” Grandpa Brown said.  “I can’t imagine what sort of work you did.  You don’t look very strong.”

“I’m not.  But I didn’t have to be so very strong.”

“Not strong enough to work on a farm, I guess.”

“Oh, I’m strong enough for that—­yes, sir!  Feel my muscle!” and the boy bent up his arm.  Grandpa Brown put his hand on it.

“Yes, you have some muscle,” he said.  “Well, maybe you will be all right.  Anyhow you’ll be better off for a good night’s sleep.  I’ll call Bunker and have him look after you.”

The strange boy, who said his name was Ben Hall, went up stairs with Bunker Blue to go to bed.  Bunny and Sue were also taken off to their little beds.

“Well, what do you think of the new boy?” Bunny heard his father ask of Grandpa Brown, just before the lights were put out for the night.